Capacity Retention Through a Separator Coated with Bifunctional Ferroelectric Nanoparticles and Modified Cathodes for Li−S Batteries

Abstract Gadolinium (Gd) and Nickel (Ni) doped bismuth ferrite (BiFeO 3 ) nanoparticles Bi 0.925 Gd .075 Fe 0.95 Ni 0.05 O 3 (BGFNO) with spontaneous polarization (2.5 μC/cm 2 ) were mechano‐chemically synthesized and used to achieve high capacity retention in lithium sulfur (Li−S) batteries. The BGFNO particles were coupled with single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT)/sulfur (S) composite cathodes as well as coated on separator. The X‐ray diffraction of BGFNO@S/SWCNT cathodes show an orthorhombic structure with particle size distribution of 20–26 nm, while Raman spectra substantiate efficient coupling of BGFNO with S/SWCNT cathodes, in agreement with SEM images, showing the interconnected network of composites. The specific discharge capacity of S 60 BGFNO 30 SWCNT 10 composite cathode @ 200 mA/g together with BGFNO coated separator gains maximum capacity up to 1611 mAh/g and retains up to 1294 mAh/g after 50 th cycle with improved capacity retention of 80 % showing suppression of polysulfides formation. The coated separator controls transport of carrier ions and side reactions, however modified cathodes with BGFNO particles acts as trapping center for polysulfides to enhance the electrochemical performance of the cells. The Coulombic efficiency(CE) for BGFNO/S/SWCNT composites @ 100 mA/g attained >98 % and CE @ 200 mA/g it is attained > 80 to 90 % compared to S/SWCNT composites in terms of improved cycle stability and reaction kinetics.